Fallon off Oscars gig after ABC objection
It looks as if Jimmy Fallon won’t be presiding at the Dolby Theatre after all.
On Wednesday, the late-night host went on “Today” in London to say he will not be hosting the Academy Awards in 2013.
“No, I’m not going to do the Oscars,” Fallon told “Today” co-host Matt Lauer. “It’s an honor to be asked by the academy, but it’s not my year.”
Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported that former academy president Tom Sherak had been in talks with Fallon, who previously hosted the Emmys, to host the Oscars.
But ABC, which broadcasts the movie kudos, was said to object to giving a platform to Fallon, who directly competes with the network’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” via his NBC show “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” ABC does not hold official veto power over the academy’s selection but is believed to have some sway with the group.
Travis’ latest dust-up includes DWI
Country singer Randy Travis was charged with driving while intoxicated and threatening law officers after he crashed his Pontiac Trans Am and was found naked and combative at the scene, Texas officials said.
The accident was reported Tuesday night, and Travis walked out of jail Wednesday morning wearing scrubs, no shoes and a University of Texas baseball cap. It was the second Texas arrest this year for Travis, who was cited in February for public intoxication.
A Pontiac Trans Am registered to the 53-year-old singer had veered off a roadway near Tioga, a town about 60 miles north of Dallas where the entertainer lives, and struck several barricades in a construction zone, said Tom Vinger, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Hoskins quits acting, citing Parkinson’s
First Peter O’Toole announced he was retiring from acting and now another lauded British thespian, Bob Hoskins, is leaving the business. In a statement released by his agent Wednesday, the reason given for the retirement is that Hoskins has Parkinson’s disease, the same neurological disorder Michael J. Fox has been suffering from for several years.
The burly, husky-voiced, 69-year-old actor earned a lead actor Oscar nomination for 1986’s “Mona Lisa” and has starred in such hits as 1988’s “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” 1980’s “The Long Good Friday,” as well as the seminal 1978 Dennis Potter British miniseries “Pennies From Heaven.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Sam Elliott is 68. Actress Melanie Griffith is 55. Actress Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files”) is 44. Actor Eric Bana is 44. Latin singer Juanes is 40. Actress Jessica Capshaw is 36. Actress Ashley Johnson (“The Help”) is 29. Actress Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”) is 27.